This application claims a priority based on Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2000-147520 and 2001-081857 filed on May 19, 2000 and Mar. 22, 2001 respectively, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
The present invention relates to a technology for controlling displaying of display data onto a display device, which is generated by an application program running on a computer, particularly by a game program.
In recent years, entertainment apparatuses such as TV game machines have been popularized. In the entertainment apparatus, one can enjoy variety of games by executing game programs obtained via a storage medium such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM or via a communication medium such as a communication line and a network. For example, in the game program called an RPG (role playing game), an AVG (adventure game), an SLG (simulation game) and the like, a story is progressed in response to an instruction from a player, which is sent via a controller connected to the entertainment apparatus. In making progress, the contents of the story to be thereafter developed are changed in response to the instruction contents of the player. With these kinds of games, the player can enjoy various developments of the story in response to the instruction contents performed by himself/herself.
Generally, in such kinds of games, a game field for displaying an image (game image) that shows a story progressing in response to the player""s instruction contents, a selection field for allowing the player to select a story development via the controller, and a caption field for displaying narration regarding the image on the game field if needed are displayed on a display screen of the display device. Relative positions and sizes of these kinds of fields on the display screen of the display device have heretofore been fixed.
Incidentally, in a game of this kind, there are cases where a secret is displayed on a portion of the game field. Here, a secret is a clue to a future development for a player to precede the story. In such a case, the player may desire to have that portion more easily to see. However, as described above, since display position and display size of the game field on a display screen have been heretofore fixed, that portion may be hidden by the selection field or the caption field displayed so as to overlap the game field. In this case, the player had to progress the story until that portion moves to an area on the game field, which is not hidden by the selection field or the caption field. In other words, there were situations where the player could not confirm a necessary portion of the game field in the case of necessity in the course of the story.
The present invention has been created in consideration for the above-described circumstances. The object of the present invention is to enable a manipulator to immediately customize displaying of display data onto a display device when needed, the display data being generated by an application program, particularly a game program, which is running on a computer such as an entertainment apparatus.
In order to achieve the above-described object, the entertainment apparatus of the present invention controls displaying of a display data, which is generated by the application program such as a game program, onto the display device in response to the manipulator""s instruction received via the controller connected to the entertainment apparatus.
Specifically, the entertainment apparatus is provided with first means for receiving an assignment of a deformation ratio of an image represented by the display data via the controller from the manipulator, and second means for processing the display data in accordance with the deformation ratio assigned by the first means and for displaying the display data onto the display screen of the display device.
Here, as the deformation ratio of the image represented by the display data, the ratio received by the first means from the manipulator, for example, a ratio of the lengths of the right/left sides and a magnification of the lengths of the upper/lower sides of the image, or a ratio of the lengths of the upper/lower sides and a magnification of the lengths of the right/left sides of the image are enumerated. Moreover, in the second means, the display data is treated as texture data and may be processed in accordance with the deformation ratio specified by the first means and output onto the display device.